LinkedIn Faces Lawsuit Over Alleged Use of Private Messages to Train AI
LinkedIn is being accused in a US lawsuit of sharing users’ private messages with third parties to train artificial intelligence (AI) models. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of LinkedIn Premium users, claims that the platform secretly introduced a privacy setting in August of the previous year. This setting allegedly automatically enrolled users in a program that allowed their personal data, including private messages, to be shared for AI training purposes.
The suit further accuses LinkedIn, which is owned by Microsoft, of covering up its actions a month later by updating its privacy policy to disclose that user information could be shared for AI training. The lawsuit suggests this move was an attempt to minimize public scrutiny and conceal what it claims was a violation of privacy standards and contractual promises.
In response, a LinkedIn spokesperson dismissed the allegations, calling them “false claims with no merit.” The company also updated its ‘frequently asked questions’ section to explain that users could opt out of sharing data for AI purposes, but doing so would not impact any prior training that had already occurred.
The lawsuit, filed in California federal court, seeks $1,000 (£812) per user for violations of the US federal Stored Communications Act, along with additional damages for breach of contract and unfair competition under California law. LinkedIn has stated that it has not shared user data for AI purposes in the UK, the European Economic Area, and Switzerland.
With over one billion global users, LinkedIn generates significant revenue, including $1.7 billion from premium subscriptions in 2023. The platform has been rapidly growing its premium user base, driven in part by the introduction of AI-powered features.LinkedIn Faces Lawsuit Over Alleged Use of Private Messages to Train AI
LinkedIn is being accused in a US lawsuit of sharing users’ private messages with third parties to train artificial intelligence (AI) models. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of LinkedIn Premium users, claims that the platform secretly introduced a privacy setting in August of the previous year. This setting allegedly automatically enrolled users in a program that allowed their personal data, including private messages, to be shared for AI training purposes.
The suit further accuses LinkedIn, which is owned by Microsoft, of covering up its actions a month later by updating its privacy policy to disclose that user information could be shared for AI training. The lawsuit suggests this move was an attempt to minimize public scrutiny and conceal what it claims was a violation of privacy standards and contractual promises.
In response, a LinkedIn spokesperson dismissed the allegations, calling them “false claims with no merit.” The company also updated its ‘frequently asked questions’ section to explain that users could opt out of sharing data for AI purposes, but doing so would not impact any prior training that had already occurred.
The lawsuit, filed in California federal court, seeks $1,000 (£812) per user for violations of the US federal Stored Communications Act, along with additional damages for breach of contract and unfair competition under California law. LinkedIn has stated that it has not shared user data for AI purposes in the UK, the European Economic Area, and Switzerland.
With over one billion global users, LinkedIn generates significant revenue, including $1.7 billion from premium subscriptions in 2023. The platform has been rapidly growing its premium user base, driven in part by the introduction of AI-powered features.
